


Perfection

by cronashy_absentia



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: F/M, but i really enjoyed writing this, i'm really proud of it, lots of kisses, shameless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2016-03-19
Packaged: 2018-05-27 14:32:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6288334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cronashy_absentia/pseuds/cronashy_absentia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kid has his perfect first kiss with Crona planned to a T. He'll ask her politely, and if she accepts, he'll let her initiate it. Unfortunately for Kid, their first kiss doesn't work at all like he planned, and the Reaper is left to wonder if his blunder may have cost him his relationship with Crona.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Perfection

The lighting is gentle, yet bright enough to light up her face so that it seems to glow with warmth. The sun has long since set behind the Death City skyline, leaving the town’s lamps to flicker on and attract small, fluttering moths with their yellow light.

Kid isn’t sure how long they’ve stood on the sidewalk in silence. Neither of them seems eager to part from each other and take their normal, opposite routes to their separate homes, and that’s fine with him. He enjoys simply being there under the streetlamp, watching as her eyes dart around, only meeting Kid’s every few seconds before they’re off again, examining every other aspect of his face. Even though they had been dating ever since the summer, she still has trouble maintaining eye contact. He doesn’t mind.

The cold of the night wraps around them but doesn’t penetrate their thick coats or scarves. They stand barely an inch apart, not touching aside from some of the fabric of their coats, which brush against each other every time one of them exhales. His hands rest in his pockets, while hers rub together beneath her gloves.

Gradually, Kid’s eyes drift down her face. Past her blue irises, her delicate eyelashes, her small nose darkened from the cold, to her pink lips. They’re parted ever so slightly, allowing her warm breath to escape her mouth in small clouds. The young Reaper chuckles a little, causing her to look towards him again. With a smile on his face, he leans forward, thoughtlessly and carelessly pressing a chaste kiss to her lips.

They barely make contact. Crona pulls back, seemingly instinctively, while Kid only manages to brush his lips against hers before he moves away as well, his eyes lidded. His smile lingers scarcely a second longer, before his eyes suddenly widen and his cheeks flush red. Crona stares at him with a similar expression, but her body begins to shake.

“Crona,” Kid starts to speak, reaching for her gloved hand, but she swiftly draws her hand to her chest and takes a sudden step backwards. Her boyfriend tenses at the action. “Crona, I’m sorry!” he says, louder, but Crona has already whipped around. Kid finds his hand grabbing for thin air rather than her shoulder as she takes off running, her footsteps echoing off the buildings lining that quiet street.

He knows better than to chase after her. It had been his own fault, his own blunder. His fist falls to his side and he clenches it, biting back the harsh wave of guilt that threatens to bring him to his knees on the spot.

He had ruined their first kiss.

* * *

 

Kid hadn’t wanted to go to school the next day. Liz almost needed to shoot him with Patty just to get her meister out of bed. He didn’t want to face Crona, or Maka, who had undoubtedly heard what had happened and quite possibly misinterpreted it. Stein and Marie had grown protective of Crona as well after adopting her, presenting more dangers.

Kid was certain that he would be either lectured and mauled by Maka, dissected by Stein, pummeled by Marie, or dumped by Crona. Or all of the above.

A sigh escapes the young Reaper’s mouth as he drags his feet down the hallways of his father’s school. He knows that he should have controlled himself better. Crona was unused to things like that. He should have asked permission first, and explained what he was going to do. If she said no, he would have had to back off and not bring it up again for weeks, or until she decided to speak of it. That was the best way to make sure she was comfortable.

But he had blown it. Caught her off-guard. And that had scared her. Crona hated new things like that; she needed explanation and stability, not spontaneity and impulse.

Kid curses himself, over and over. Slamming his head into his locker, grumbling his hatred for his own love-struck actions. Other students glance at him, but they quickly lose interest. He often had fits like this.

When her voice calls out to him, he almost doesn’t hear her over the ringing in his ears. He stops hitting his head against his newly-dented locker long enough to hear her speak again.

“Kid? Are you okay?”

Kid turns around to see her standing before him. Her fingers are clutched together, her shoulders bunched. Beneath her lavender bangs, her navy blue irises worriedly eye his sore forehead, and she bites her lip a little.

“Crona,” he murmurs, bringing a hand up to rub his head. Every function of his mind is going haywire. Why is she talking to him? Doesn’t she hate him? Is she going to break up with him? Those jeans that Liz picked out look cute on her today. Why can he never seem to focus?!

Crona frowns. “Does your head feel all right?” she asks. He can only nod. His thoughts are working too fast and frantically to produce any coherent sentence. “Oh. That’s good,” she says, but he suspects that she doesn’t believe him.

She doesn’t say any more. Kid watches her as his forehead stops throbbing long enough for him to focus his eyes. The silence between them feels tense, settling on his skin like humidity and thickening the air between them, though they slow down Kid’s thoughts long enough for him to actually _think_.

“I’m sorry,” he blurts out, dispelling the muted fog. “About last night.”

He can see Crona stiffen for a moment, but she quickly shakes her head. “I was the one who ran away,” she murmurs.

Kid’s brow furrows. “Crona, you did nothing wrong,” he says, almost sternly. “I invaded your comfort zone. I overstepped my boundaries, and probably confused and embarrassed you. And I ruined our first kiss, Crona. I did _everything_ wrong,” he argues.

Crona’s shoulders bunch further. “No you didn’t,” she replies, her sullen eyes watching their shoes.

Kid’s fists clench. “Then why won’t you look at me?” he breathes. “Am I that horrible to you? Am I that much of an abomination?” He hurls questions at her, his voice rising as he goes. “Tell me that I wronged you, Crona! Tell me the truth! Tell me what a terrible boyfriend I am! Tell me-!”

Kid is interrupted by the harsh _clang_ of his locker as Crona grabs his shoulders, shoving the Reaper into the metal behind him. He barely has time to gain his breath back before she squeezes her eyes shut and presses a kiss to his lips.

He freezes. Her face is so close, _too close_ to his and he stares at it, feels her lips against his own, wants nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and kiss her as much as he does in his daydreams. But she moves away all too quickly, leaving his lips feeling cold.

“T-there,” she stammers, her entire body shaking. “N-now we’re even.”

Kid stares at her, words stuck in his throat. Forcing them out is like trying to push a piano through a pantry door.

“B-but…” His speech tumbles from his mouth haphazardly. “You… You can kiss?” He wants to slap himself and pluck his pathetic sentence from the air before it reaches her ears, but of course he can’t.

Crona blushes furiously, gray spreading across her face. “Yes,” she answers quietly. “I’ve seen Soul and Maka do it when they think I’m not looking, and Stein and Marie do it whether they know I’m looking or not.”

Kid makes sure that he can speak clearly before he opens his mouth again. “Did you tell any of them about what happened last night?” he asks, to which she shakes her head wordlessly. He stays silent a moment, watching her move to lean against the locker beside him. “If I really didn’t do anything to scare you yesterday, then why did you run away?”

Crona’s eyes meet his for a second. Her eyebrows push together slightly, her irises flickering with uncertainty. Kid waits, ready to ask the question again if necessary. He didn’t want to pester her, but he needs answers. Luckily, she answers him before he speaks again.

“Because it was new,” she confesses as she sets her palms against the locker behind her, pulling her eyes away from Kid’s, “And strange. I liked it, but…” She stops. Kid can barely hear her when she adds softly, whispering as if uttering a guarded secret, “I didn’t know how to deal with it.”

It’s been so long since she said something like that, the words almost sound foreign to Kid. Slowly, he reaches his hand over to hers and settles his palm on her fingers, prompting her to look towards him again.

“I promise to always ask in the future,” he says softly. “I won’t startle you like that again. All right?”

Crona doesn’t speak for a moment, but then she nods once. “That would be fine,” she replies. Kid finds himself smiling a little, and he pushes off the locker to turn and face her.

“And you’re sure you’re not mad at me?”

She nods again. “I’m sure.”

Kid feels the tension ease from his shoulders. He moves closer to her, their gazes never breaking. He’s hesitant to utter his next request, and he almost backs away, but his decision is made when Crona bites her lip a little. Perhaps she’s nervous, maybe she isn’t thinking about it, or she might even be doing it on purpose, but it’s the last straw for Kid.

“Then may I kiss you again?” he blurts out, much faster and hastier than he would’ve liked. He considers telling her that he was kidding, but he knows his face is too hot and red for a lie to be taken seriously. Relief washes over him again when she nods, but only for the smallest second. Now he has to actually carry out his request.

Kid’s hand quivers as he moves it to cup her jaw, attempting to steady himself and slow his breathing. His thumb runs across her lips; they’re soft. Slowly, he leans forward and closes his eyes, focusing on her. He can hear her breath, gaining speed as he feels her jaw tense.

The young Reaper’s face falls and his eyes open. He’s close enough to feel her exhale on his lips, but still too far from her mouth. He’s about to pull away, to spurt out an apology, until Crona’s hand settles on the back of his head, keeping him from moving backwards. She opens her own eyes, looking straight at him.

“Don’t,” she murmurs. Kid’s throat clenches, and he closes his eyes again. Crona’s fingers remain in his hair as he presses forward that one extra inch to kiss her.

The kiss is gentle, innocent. Nothing passionate or extravagant. A simple kiss on the lips between lovers.

Kid thinks that, for now, it’s perfect that way.

They don’t wait long to pull apart, Crona’s palm stroking Kid’s striped hair, his thumb brushing against her cheek. He smiles as he gazes into her eyes, and he knows that he’s looking forward to more tender kisses from her.

The school’s bell tolls suddenly, jolting the two into realizing they’re alone in the hallway. Scrambling to retrieve their books from their lockers, they race to class, wondering how they’re going to explain their absence, yet smiling all the same.


End file.
